


seven(teen) minutes in heaven

by lesmiserablol



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Bending (Avatar), Dorks in Love, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Kissing, M/M, Making Out, Seven Minutes In Heaven Game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 01:41:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28805241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesmiserablol/pseuds/lesmiserablol
Summary: The next thing he knew, the two of them were being shoved into the hall closet, Toph loudly declaring that their time had begun. It was official. For the next seven minutes, Sokka was to be trapped in the tiny space with the man he was hopelessly in love with, the implications of the situation hanging over his head heavily.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 117
Kudos: 984





	seven(teen) minutes in heaven

**Author's Note:**

> Based off [this post](https://bisexuallsokka.tumblr.com/post/640449413711577088)!

“Now what?”

Sokka squints at Zuko. A slant of light peeks through the crack in the doorframe, resting on Zuko’s cheek, the brown of his iris glowing as he looks back at Sokka. 

“What do you mean, ‘now what’?” Sokka scowls. He tries to press himself further away from Zuko, his arm digging into the shelves holding his and Katara’s towels and extra blankets, but try as he might, he physically cannot put any more distance between them in the tiny hall closet. Sokka’s arms are crossed in front of him, the only thing stopping his chest and Zuko’s from being pressed together. He doesn’t think that Zuko realizes he’s stepping on Sokka’s right foot, but he’s too distracted by Zuko’s eyes — no, his  _ hair _ ...no,  _ everything — _ to be bothered by it.

_ Every day I wake up _ , Sokka thinks,  _ and the universe finds new ways to curse me.  _

“What are we supposed to do in here?” Zuko asks. 

Sokka blinks at him in silence, but Zuko’s expression doesn’t crack. He can hear a loud thud and then the sound of Toph laughing coming from the direction of the living room.

“It’s...seven minutes in heaven. You...” Sokka trails off, frowning. “You’ve played this before, right? We’ve been at Ba Sing Se University for _ two years _ , you’ve  _ had  _ to have done this before.”

“ _We_ have never played it together, so, no. I haven’t.”

Sokka starts to groan before cutting himself off. He doesn’t want them to hear anything in the living room and get any ideas.

“Yeah, well, there’s a reason why you and I have never played it before,” he mutters to himself. It’s the same reason why he has shut down any and all attempts to play Spin the Bottle or Strip Poker when Zuko was around (both suggestions of Toph’s, because _ of course they were _ ).

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. It’s kind of his fault he’s in this situation anyway. He was  _ so sure _ that the Pygmy Pumas were going to win the pro-bending tournament last week, but the Fire Ferrets came out on top, to Toph’s delight. It was foolish hoping that she would forget about their bet. She never forgets about anything that comes at Sokka’s expense. As soon as she arrived on the doorstep of the apartment he shares with Katara not ten minutes ago, she grinned up in his direction.

“Well, well, well,” Toph pushed past him to walk inside. “Looks like I’m the winner. Again.”

Sokka sighed, already searching for his wallet. “Alright, Toph, what do I owe you? Maybe you can choose the pizza toppings tonight? Or I can run to the store and get you your favorite soda?”

“Hmm.” She tapped her chin in contemplation. “Maybe a foot massage?”

Sokka wrinkled his nose, following her into the living room, where Aang and Katara had already claimed the loveseat. They greeted her and she plopped down on the open couch, stretching to take up as much of it as possible. Given her height, she still had an extra few inches, but Sokka perched on the arm of it instead of claiming a cushion.

“Please no foot massages,” Sokka groaned at the same time that he heard a knock on the door. “Ah, that must be Zuko.”

He got up a little too eagerly, judging by Katara’s snicker, and he flipped her off on the way to answer. Zuko was already walking inside when he reached the front door, and he looked up to greet Sokka with a soft smile that made Sokka’s insides melt. There was probably some joke there about his firebending friend being able to warm him up from the inside out with just a single smile, but he pushed that aside for later.

“Hey,” Zuko said, closing the door behind him. “Sorry, am I late?”

“Nah, we’re still waiting on Suki and Yue. What’s that?”

Zuko lifted up the paper bag in his hands. “Oh, yeah, we had some extra fruit tarts at work, so I...brought you some. I know you love them.”

_ I know I love you _ , Sokka thought to himself, like some lovesick teenager, and he shooed that thought away, instead taking the bag from Zuko. He made sure their fingers brushed in the process.

“You might need to share with Toph, though,” Zuko added. Sokka realized his cheeks were tinged pink, was it cold outside? “I lost a bet on the last pro-bending match and now I owe her.”

“Ah, you too?” Sokka laughed, setting the bag down on the kitchen counter and leading the way into the living room. “She was in the middle of deciding how she wants me to pay up when you arrived.”

“And I have come to a decision!” Toph announced proudly from where she was now sitting cross-legged on the ground in front of Aang and Katara, ending her conversation with the couple to address the newcomers. “For both of you, actually.”

“Alright,” Sokka sighed. “Give it to me.”

“You two are going to spend seven minutes in heaven,” Toph smirked. “Together.”

“Take it back,” Sokka said immediately, the rate of his heart increasing from normal to sudden panic in record time. 

Toph just laughed. “Sorry, maybe you should’ve decided the terms and conditions before it came to this. Or maybe chosen the right team to support.”

Sokka looked from her to Aang to Katara. Katara shrugged, but Aang had the decency to look apologetic. Sokka refused to look at Zuko, so he trained his gaze back on Toph. 

“No, wait, I can give you a foot massage, I’ll give you a thousand foot massages,” Sokka said quickly. Seven Minutes in Heaven wasn’t seen as a punishment in most cases, but now, Sokka wishes Toph would just earthbend him deep into the ground instead, his stomach filling with dread.

But the next thing he knew, the two of them were being shoved into the hall closet, Toph loudly declaring that their time had begun. It was official. For the next seven minutes, he was to be trapped in a tiny closet with the man he was hopelessly in love with, the implications of the situation hanging over his head heavily.

And just when he thought it couldn’t get worse, now he had to explain the predicament to Zuko.

He feels his face heat up, and his hand brushes against Zuko’s chest as he reaches up to scratch the back of his neck awkwardly. 

“Right. It’s just...it’s stupid, really, it’s not a big deal, it’s just a, uh, party game.”

Zuko watches him, patiently waiting as Sokka steels himself to continue the explanation. 

“You, uh, the point is you’re trapped somewhere with someone for seven minutes. Usually some closet or bedroom or something.”

“Why did they choose the closet? There clearly isn’t any room for both of us to fit here comfortably.” Zuko frowns.

“I think that’s kind of the point,” Sokka sighs.

“Also, I can hardly see anything.” He holds out his palm between the two of them, summoning a small flame. The fire casts his face in the perfect light, all shadows and angles and lips and… 

Sokka understands why people can be described as ‘breathtaking’. It takes several moments of staring at Zuko before he remembers how his lungs work, and his next inhale is shaky.

“Sorry, is that too bright?” Zuko asks, and Sokka realizes he had been staring. 

“Oh, uh, kind of,” Sokka says, but he regrets it when the fire disappears and he can’t see Zuko as well.

“So we just stay here and wait for seven minutes?” Zuko asks.

“Well, for the game, you usually spend the seven minutes...you know...”

Zuko’s confused expression doesn’t waver, and Sokka closes his eyes. 

“Youspendthesevenminuteskissing,” he says quickly, letting the words spill out before he can stop himself. 

Zuko recoils away from him, or tries to, at least. All that happens is he bumps his elbow on a shelf and he hisses in pain, rubbing it as he stares at Sokka with wide eyes. 

“Kissing?” he echoes. 

“Yeah, kissing,” Sokka confirms. “Or...other stuff, but. You get the point.”

“Kissing,” Zuko repeats. “For seven minutes?”

“Yeah. Then that’s when they let you out.”

“So...we’re supposed to be kissing now?” Zuko asks.

“Gee, Zuko, don’t act so excited.” Sokka tries to make the comment come off as a joke, but he winces at his shaky voice. “Like I said, it’s just a stupid game, they’ll let us out soon. You don’t have to kiss me.” 

“Oh,” Zuko says. “Right. You probably don’t...I mean, you probably don’t  _ want  _ to kiss me.”

“Who says that?” Sokka says quickly, because apparently being forced to be in a proximity as close as this in circumstances such as these with someone such as  _ Zuko  _ does questionable things to his brain to mouth filter.

Zuko is staring at him with wide eyes, and Sokka rushes to save himself. “I mean, we’ve talked about this, the low self image, man. Who wouldn’t want to kiss you? You’re beautiful and kind and your lips are probably really soft…”  _ Earth to Sokka! Shut up! _ “...or whatever.”

Zuko bites his lower lip self consciously, and Sokka’s eyes follow the movement before snapping back up. His palms feel very, very sweaty. Is the temperature in the closet hotter than the rest of the apartment? Maybe they should look into that. 

“Oh,” Zuko finally says. “I...thank you, Sokka. I’m just not sure if I’m a good kisser.”

“Well, only one way to find out, right?” Sokka’s mouth asks before getting permission from Sokka’s brain. He briefly wonders if the others will let them cut their seven minutes short if he smashes his head into the closet door hard enough to give himself a concussion.

Zuko just stares at him. “What do you...what are you saying?” 

“Just, you know, maybe you want some pointers, or something? I could, I could help you! If you want.” Nice. Flawless recovery.  He has _no idea_ how far gone you really are for him, Sokka .

Zuko’s confusion clears and his eyes light up. “You’d do that for me?”

Sokka shrugs. Nonchalant. Casual. That’s him, Mr. Casual, doing casual kisses with his casual friends because he’s so cool and thoughtful like that. “Yeah, of course.”

But here is one tiny problem that Sokka has failed to consider:

“Okay.”

Sokka blinks at him. Zuko...Zuko just agreed. To kissing him. To being kissed. To the two of them. Kissing. Together. With their mouths.

“Okay,” Sokka repeats, as if those two syllables weren’t responsible for the current internal meltdown that’s happening. “Uh, are you ready?”

Zuko nods, and Sokka brings his hand up to rest it on his unscarred cheek. He’s glad that it’s dark enough that Zuko can’t tell how much it is shaking. Once he touches Zuko’s face, however, it stills. A feeling of peace starts at the point of contact and spreads to the rest of his body. He can’t resist letting his thumb stroke his cheekbone for a second before he stops himself. Just a kiss. An innocent, simple kiss, nothing crazy, purely for teaching purposes. He’s just going to lean in, collect the data he needs, make some observations, and then break it off before he can do something stupid like let his feelings interrupt his experiment or become too obvious and scare Zuko away. Of course not. 

Zuko is trusting Sokka, and Sokka isn’t going to take advantage of that, he isn’t going to let his stupid, complicated emotions get in the way. It’s just a kiss. That’s it! Sokka gives friendship kisses all the time, to all his friends, like with...okay. Okay, maybe Zuko is the first friend he will casually kiss on the mouth, but that doesn’t mean anything.

He realizes Zuko is watching him expectantly, so he leans forward. The distance between them had seemed so short but now, it’s much too big as he moves to eliminate any unnecessary space, and Zuko does the same, their lips barely brushing against each other for a moment before Zuko presses even closer and,  _ okay _ , they’re  _ kissing  _ kissing now. 

Sokka isn’t breathing. He is barely moving, the glide of his lips against Zuko the only proof that he’s still capable of any movement at all. Zuko, who had felt so tense as they came together, starts to relax against him. He feels it through his hand on Zuko's cheek, in the space where their chests are now pressed together, in the way Zuko’s shoulders are loosening and he’s starting to move against Sokka’s lips with a confidence that almost surprises him.

Confidence, right, Sokka is supposed to be making helpful, informative observations of this moment. He can do that. Okay, so Zuko is a confident kisser, that’s good, but he’s not too overbearing, also good. Very good. Unbelievably good.  _ Unfairly good _ . How many people have been on the receiving end of a kiss like this? It sends a stupid flare of jealousy through him before he can stop it. Calm down, Sokka, it’s okay that Zuko has kissed other people. In fact, maybe it’s for the best, all that practice is  _ really  _ paying off, and now you get to benefit from that!

His thoughts are interrupted as he takes Zuko’s bottom lip between both of his own, sucking lightly. A sigh escapes from Zuko’s lips, and  _ whoa _ , he needs a separate heading under his observations to be dedicated solely to the noises Zuko can make while kissing, because they are simply  _ divine _ . Sokka feels it against his chest, muffles the sound of it with his own mouth, and he sucks on his lip again, experimentally, a little harder. Something warm flows through him as a result when another sigh, louder this time, escapes Zuko's lips and does funny things to his stomach. 

Is this what it feels like to redirect lightning? He thinks of the way Zuko described it once, the feeling of electricity running throughout his entire body, all of his senses stronger and more aware than before. He said that it was intimidating, at first, the concept of wielding the power, but as soon as the lightning entered his body, it was like he knew what to do. Like his instincts took over, every part of his body working in harmony, and above all, the sure feeling that took over his mind. The clarity that this was right.

Yeah. That’s pretty much how Sokka feels right now. He has spent an embarrassing amount of time imagining this moment, yet all the fantasizing in the world wouldn’t have been enough to help him reach the same conclusion that the reality of this is bringing him. He’s barely aware of the hand not on Zuko’s cheek coming up to thread his fingers through Zuko’s hair, but as he does it, it feels right, it feels natural, even if he hits the shelf with his elbow in the process.

As for the clarity part, he’s not sure if that’s the right word to use for the way his mind is working right now. His thoughts are all over the place and perfectly blank at the same time. The only thing that he can focus on is  _ Zuko Zuko Zuko _ , Zuko’s lips against his, Zuko’s foot still standing on his, Zuko’s nose nudging his own. He feels like he’s floating, he can’t tell where he begins and where Zuko ends.

And then Zuko’s hands, which had been clutching handfuls of Sokka’s shirt, move to his waist, sliding under the fabric and resting on the bare skin there. His touch is warm,  _ so warm _ against Sokka’s skin, and instead of floating he feels like he’s grounded, like he is anchored by Zuko’s touch, like Zuko could hold him forever and he would never feel the desire to pull back or lose the contact.

It’s just like he said, who wouldn’t want to kiss Zuko? He’s beautiful and he’s kind, and he’s a thousand other wonderful things, and having him this close just makes Sokka want  _ more _ . And like he always thought: Zuko’s lips are soft. So, so very soft. The kind of soft that could kiss away any bad day, that could smooth away any distressed creases in his forehead, that could reassure him and his anxieties and comfort him after a nightmare and remind him of only good memories.

Zuko leans more into his space until Sokka’s back is pressed completely against the wall of the closet, his hands slowly trailing up Sokka’s side and then sliding back down, leaving his skin tingling with the phantom sensation of his hands all over his sides, slow but sure, the confidence in his kissing reflected in the movements of his hands as well.

Ooh, confidence, that’s right, he was collecting data from this experience, he just got way, way off track. It isn’t his fault Zuko is so distracting, alright? He can’t help it that everything that Zuko does seems to cloud his brain in the best way possible. Besides, he doesn’t feel guilty for falling so off course. Zuko is a perfectly good kisser, thank you very much, Sokka can’t really think of much else to improve his—

That thought is promptly interrupted as Zuko’s tongue, which had been teasing Sokka’s lips,  _ finally  _ slips inside Sokka’s mouth.

Sokka involuntarily gasps against Zuko’s lips, his mind spinning. So they are doing  _ that  _ now, okay, Sokka is okay with that, he’s more than okay with this, with the way that Zuko feels against him. He’ll take anything and everything that Zuko will give him, even if it’s—

Even if it’s still not everything he wants.

His hands move to grab Zuko’s shoulders and push him off of him.

Zuko’s eyes are wide, panicked. “Sorry, was that too much? I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable—“

“No, you didn’t make me uncomfortable, if anything you made me a little too comfortable,” Sokka shakes his head, his lips tingling, the taste of Zuko still lingering. It was shocking, how easily they fit together, how  _ good  _ Zuko tasted, how  _ natural  _ kissing him had been. Zuko’s hands drop from his waist and in their absence his skin suddenly feels cold and empty, and he decides that he doesn’t like not having Zuko’s hands on him at all times.

But the chill against his waist is nothing compared to the chill that runs through his whole body, all feelings of pleasure gone and replaced with guilt.

Zuko’s eyebrows furrow. “What do—“

“Zuko, I’m sorry, I need to be honest with you. I really, really like you. As in, I’ve thought about kissing you for a long time, and so I don’t want to take advantage of you without knowing how I feel. I mean, I did want to help you with your kissing, but if that’s all this is to you that’s fine, I should probably just stop—“

“Sokka,” Zuko says quietly, but it effectively shuts him up. “It’s okay, I’m not mad. I...I really like you too.”

Sokka’s mind screeches to a halt. 

_ He what?  _

“You what?”

“Yeah,” Zuko answers, smiling now. “I’ve wanted to kiss you for ages.”

“Seriously?” Sokka asks, his face splitting into a grin at Zuko’s answering nod. 

“And I would like to kiss you some more,” Zuko says. Sokka could shout for joy at the feeling of Zuko’s hands on Sokka’s waist one more, but he manages to have some self control. Barely. 

“That is,” Zuko adds, “Unless you have any tips for me? Any ideas on how to improve?”

“Tui and La, Zuko, I know people say there is always room for improvement, but I swear on the moon herself that I cannot possibly think of anything that you could do better. I’m pretty sure you just raised the bar on kissing for the rest of my life.”

“Hm,” Zuko hums, thoughtful. “I’m sure there’s  _ something  _ I can do better. Maybe you just don’t have enough data.”

“I mean,” Sokka swallows, and Zuko’s eyes glance down at his throat before looking back up. “You could try that thing with your tongue again, maybe  _ that  _ will help me make some better observations.”

* * *

Sokka has no idea how much time passes before the door opens again and light spills into the dark closet. 

He pulls his lips away from Zuko’s neck, blinking against the light in confusion at the harsh reminder that they are not, somehow, the only two people in the world. Zuko, hair a mess, looks just as dazed, his lips red and swollen and beautiful. Together they turn to look at the open door.

Toph is standing there, hands on her hips, not saying anything. Zuko and Sokka exchange wide eyed looks. This could be much worse, they could be caught in this position by Sokka’s little sister, or really anyone who could see just how disheveled the two of them look. Instead, Toph just waits, finally sighing loudly. 

“Your silence tells me everything I need to know,” she says, shaking her head. “It’s about damn time.”

Sokka groans. “You’re evil. You played us, and you’re evil for that.”

“You’re welcome,” Toph grins. “Come on, your seven minutes ended ten minutes ago, Suki and Yue are here and are complaining about being hungry. At least pretend to be a good host, Sokka, and then you two can spend as much time as you want in this closet.”

Sokka pouts, but when Zuko leans forward to kiss his bottom lip, he brightens.

Toph turns away and Zuko grabs his hand, threading their fingers together. “Come on. Pizza now, kissing later.”

“Is that a promise? Please tell me that’s a promise. I’m going to need you to promise me more kisses if you want me to exercise any sort of self control out there.”

Zuko rolls his eyes, but his smile is fond. “Yeah, that’s a promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> find me on [tumblr](https://bisexuallsokka.tumblr.com)!


End file.
